Mediadgecia creates MEC Interaction

14 June, 2005

Mediaedge:cia (MEC), a leading media communications specialist company and part of WPP's media investment management company GroupM, has formed a new specialist unit, MEC Interaction, merging all of MEC’s online and offline lead generation activities under a single banner, effective immediately. The new unit consists of Wunderman Media, The Digital Edge and Outrider, and will be headed by Rob Norman as Worldwide Chief Executive Officer. Norman was previously Chairman of Mediaedge:cia UK and CEO of Outrider Worldwide.

• Carrie Frolich and Todd Fraipont as Senior Partners, Practice Leads for online areas. Frolich, formerly Group Director for TDE, will manage MEC Interaction’s online specialists in New York, Chicago and Detroit. Fraipont, formerly West Coast Director of Strategy for TDE, will handle the online speciality in MEC’s offices in Irvine and Los Angeles, CA.

• Greg Rogers as Partner, Director of Insights and Analytics. Formerly Director, Strategy & Insights for TDE, Rogers will lead development of combined analytics between all of MEC Interaction’s specialty functions.

• Matt Straznitskas as Senior Partner, Director of Business Development. Formerly Senior Partner, Special Services for TDE, Straznitskas will manage all business growth and new business opportunities for MEC Interaction.

"MEC Interaction represents the total capability of all three brands and sums up the unified goal of our new unit – to identify interaction points between brands and consumers while enhancing the prospects of a sale," Courtier said. "Whether the consumer response is through a toll-free number, a Web site, text messaging, downloaded content or snail mail, the new MEC Interaction has the ability to do it all for clients. And Rob Norman, with his prior experience as head of Outrider and as a unifier for all of MEC’s UK entities, is the perfect leader to tie the one-to-one disciplines together, both in the US and across the MEC network."

"We now live in a world of not just one communication channel, but many, and consumers use and interact with these multiple channels simultaneously," noted Norman. "These interactions create measurable data streams. By merging MEC’s 3 units, we are better able to leverage the company’s understanding of consumer behavior to our clients’ benefit."